The original site of The Tomb of St. Thomas à Becket in The Eastern Crypt ©P.E.Blanche

What Happened to Thomas à Becket?

I am not quite sure when I took the above picture in The Eastern Crypt but it is not possible to do this at present because photography is not allowed in this area. I am fortunate enough to have many pictures taken over the years in the Cathedral and this just happens to be one of them. I must admit that I did not realise it's significance until some time after I had taken it.

The subject matter on this page is well documented in a book written in 1995 by John Butler titled, "The Quest for Becket's Bones" [ISBN 0-300-06115-3], and I would strongly recommend that anyone that is interested in this subject obtain a copy. It's a very interesting book and I have to admit that my own views have been enhanced since reading it. Obviously, because of copyright, I will not copy from the book on these pages although I do admit it did raise my curiousity about the Tomb of Odet de Coligny and I will therefore mention this matter in passing. Other ideas and expansions of those ideas have been gained from additional reading including many years of newspaper articles that I have searched through about this mystery. Other than that, this set of pages is really meant to be an addition to my original page about the life of St. Thomas.

The Background

The significance of the first picture on this page, as I realised much later, is that the original Tomb of St. Thomas was built in 1170 between the first two pillars of Purbeck Marble here in the Eastern Crypt. It was in this area in 1174 that Henry II did his famous penance and here the remains of the Saint rested until they were moved upstairs (or translated) to the Trinity Chapel in 1220.

The reason for the move up to the more important area in The Trinity Chapel was because of the growing importance of this new (at the time) Saint and because of the increasing numbers of miracles that were attributed to visits to his Tomb. Certainly, the monks in those days were not backward in marketing practices. It is said that a piece of a bone plate from the top of Becket's cranium was edged with silver and shown to the visiting pilgrims. Whether this piece of bone was actually from the head of the Saint is certainly open to doubt.

The lay-out of the buildings surrounding the Cathedral were significantly different in the 13th Century than they are today. At that time, the life of the Cathedral centred around the monks and the monastery that they inhabited. England was completed Catholic at that time and like other Catholic Countries, the Pope was ultimately the head of the Church in England at that time. I only mention this to emphasise the situation and because the access to the Cathedral would have been different in those days which meant that pilgrims visiting the Shrine of the Saint, went into the Cathedral by other routes than the ordinary visitor would today. I will probably deal with this aspect later.

The steps leading up to the Trinity Chapel © P.E.Blanche 1998

Once in the Cathedral, pilgrims supposedly made their way down the South side of the Nave, into the South West transept and from there, depending on the year of their visit, down into the Crypt and later, up the stairs [picture on left] to the Choir and then on to the Trinity Chapel. I have been told that the amount of wear that can be seen in the steps on their right-hand side was caused by the pilgrims climbing these stairs on their knees. There are other factors which would have altered the progress of the pilgrims to the two shrines over the years which would have been the fire in September, 1174 which destroyed the great choir - although the original Norman Crypt did survive the fire overhead. Then later, at the end of the 14th century and early 15th century, the Norman Nave was demolished and rebuilt in the same form that is there today.

The front of the area where the shrine stood in The Trinity Chapel © P.E.Blanche 2002

When the pilgrims had entered the Trinity Chapel, they were allowed to move into the area in front of the shrine. Even today, the area where they finally knelt at this point can be made out quite easily by a groove that still remains in the marble floor. It is not always easy to see this groove and does depend on the lighting and the angle at which one stands to look at it. It's even more difficult to capture on a photograph. However, on the picture on the right, you can make out this feature at the right-hand side of the red stripe.

Immediately below, you will find a picture I took as a photocopy of an old postcard which is an artist's rendition of what the Tomb of St. Thomas in The Trinity Chapel may have looked like. This drawing is from the opposite side of The Chapel to the last picture on the left. Even so, you may be able to make out the same patterned marble flooring that was in front of the Tomb. Again, the right-hand side of red stripe also indicates what would have been a central line through the Tomb as it originally stood, hence the deepness of the groove at that point.

With a stone base, it is believed that the actual shrine, made of gold and heavily encrusted with all kinds of jewels, was supported on marble pillars. The cover for the canopy was suspended from the ceiling above and was most probably made of wood and extensively carved and decorated.

Having got to this point, the obvious question is, why is the Tomb still not in the Cathedral today and what happened to Becket's remains? Because this page already includes several pictures, the next part of the story is on:

Page Two

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